Why Give?

Because we’re proud

Alumni and friends like you assure that the UW-Madison will never stop transforming lives. Your gift, whatever its size, makes a huge difference in assuring the Wisconsin Experience will be available to new generations of students.

Gifts like yours sustain the university and bolster the value of a UW degree. They are investments in the future of the university and the students, faculty and staff who will shape the future of Wisconsin and the world.

The role of great public research universities in the world has never been more important. In addition to generating life-changing research, UW-Madison educates a significant number of our future leaders in science, engineering, business, public policy, history, education, law, journalism, and more.

State tax dollars plus tuition built the University of Wisconsin-Madison into one of the top 20 public universities in the world. The university leverages these core dollars to attract double that amount in gifts and grants, making UW-Madison one of the top three research universities in the country. The funding model, however, is shifting dramatically.

Fifty years ago, state funding covered 90 percent of core educational costs; as of 2014-15, it covered about 40 percent of the core budget and 15 percent of the overall UW-Madison budget. That has meant the university has had fewer core dollars to attract outside funding and maintain the quality of a UW-Madison education.